Comments on: Will marketing eat LinkedIn?

By: The Rose McGrory team

The Rose McGrory team — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:24:08 +0000

Thanks for your thoughts Desiree – interesting that LinkedIn is your fave site – i wonder how many people that’s true of? ~Kate

By: Desiree Ashton

Desiree Ashton — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:13:26 +0000

Some very good points raised so far – both in the article and the comments. I, too, have noticed a change in Linked In and have taken several steps to minimse unwanted ‘intrusions’. I tend to favour groups which are closely moderated and this often coincides with them being closed groups. In terms of connections, I only ever connect with people I have met in person and had a conversation with. Occasionally I will connect with someone who I know has found me through discussions with another connection or associate. Fortunately, most people seem to be moving away from using the pro-forma connection message and providing a more personal ‘introduction text’ when the contact me. My listed connections are relatively low in number, compared to others, but it is more important to me that my network is one of quality, as opposed to quantity. Unfortunately, initiatives such as Klout threaten to skew people’s view of what is / is not important in terms of building business relationships. With regard to discussions, if I feel I am being ‘spammed’ with an unnecessary level of commentary, I change my notification settings or simply leave the group. In order to minimise clogging in my email inbox, I have set up rules to send various notifications to set folders. This allows me to tune in and out of discussions as it suits me. In terms of how people conduct themselves in discussions, I think this can reflect how they will conduct themselves in business – hence, I see it as a valuable insight. Linked In is still my favourite social space and I hope it will remain so. Being a bit of an old-fashioned gal, I never access LI through an app, always from my desktop…. I wonder if that makes any difference to the LI experience?

By: The Rose McGrory team

The Rose McGrory team — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:01:04 +0000

Ah yes, the one-upmanship factor – definitely a feature of the less thoroughly moderated groups. Maybe what we’re seeing is the worse side of corporate life (self promotion, competitiveness) being reflected in LinkedIn rather than the positive side? I guess that’s also true from a design point of view, it’s conservative rather than innovative…

By: Antonio Spinozzi

Antonio Spinozzi — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:52:34 +0000

I completely agree with you. I’ve only properly indulged in Li during the past year but indulge is probably the wrong word. Perhaps I never use it correctly but whenever I engage with any talkback in a group, it descends into people giving an answer based on why you should use them to obtain the best answer.
It’s also rather antiquated in design which is personally important to me to engage my grey matter. Hence why I welcome the iPhone app. Doesn’t get rid of the hard sales but it does make Li a bit of a more attractive proposition.

By: The Rose McGrory team

The Rose McGrory team — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:32:31 +0000

Ann, we were holding up The Inspired Group as a shining example of what LinkedIn should be – sorry if that wasn’t clear. Couldn’t agree more with everything you’ve said; if more groups were run with your approach, LinkedIn would be a far better place! ~Kate

By: Ann Hawkins

Ann Hawkins — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:28:51 +0000

I use LinkedIn for marketing, but I doubt if I’m one of the people who annoys you because it is possible to do it well.

I DO have a large number of connections and I don’t know all of them, except through group activity, but they’re there because I want their ideas and opinions.

I started The Inspired Group on LinkedIn because I wanted to extend the networking opportunities of my Cambridge based group to on-line and to give people who weren’t local the chance to experience the ideas from the great speakers we have at our events. I later used it to gather material and choose people to interview for a weekly radio series.

The group is more tightly moderated than most on LinkedIn. Although it is an open group there is NO spam, no self-promotion (except of the most subtle kind) and definitely NO discussions that link straight to a blog (I consider this the height or rudeness in any group). What there is is lots and lots of really good ideas on every aspect of running a business.

I take the view that no-one is interested in what you do until they find out who you are and this is what comes across in our discussions. The people who are willing to share their expertise, experience, talent and skill get noticed because that is what shines through.

I do send notices to members of the group once a month to invite them to our events and the discussions surrounding them.

I’ve cancelled notifications from lots of groups because of one or two people who post links to blog posts EVERY DAY on what seems like dozens of groups. These are the people who ruin it for me.

I can honestly say that running a really good group on LinkedIn has transformed my business and I don’t think I’ve offended anyone in the process.

By: The Rose McGrory team

The Rose McGrory team — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:12:55 +0000

Hi Daryl, thanks for stopping by. Not just us, then

By: Daryl Griffiths

Daryl Griffiths — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 09:08:31 +0000

Agreed. I rarely bother with any groups on LinkedIn for precisely the reasons you mention.